Kindred

Trans-Mutate and Protoform X find they're not as alone as they thought.

Synopsis

Having found Trans-Mutate, Protoform X takes a lunge at his supposed stalker. Trans-Mutate insists she doesn't want to fight, and the quickly recognize each other from Ferromax Detention Center. Trans-Mutate inquires at to who and what Protoform X is; the former Maximal begins to rant, but quickly falls over, having drained most of his energon reserves. Trans-Muate uses the navicomp's gathered solar radiation to convert it to energon, powering X upright once more. Trans-Mutate ignores his ramblings, telling him that they need each other to survive, and she wants to know why he's taken such an interest in her. Protoform X explains that they are both Point One Percenters; Cybertronians with rare, super-powerful sparks, and that their jailers feared and exiled them when they prove uncontrollable. Trans-Mutate tells him that Maximals and Predacons are incapable of supporting such a spark, but Protoform X claims that those are lies, and that it is why he was selected for the experiments that made him what he is today. He asks her if she too has felt different from others all her life, and Trans-Mutate, stuck by this revelation, confirms that she has. X moves on, figuring that there is probably wreckage from the Claustrum they can salvage for shelter and energy. After sniping with the navicomp, Protoform X asks why Trans-Mutate hid from him. Trans-Mutate replies that she thought he was hiding from her, and the pair quickly realize they are not alone. Suddenly, two strange robots-Bruton and Medusa-attack the pair, having come to capture the two "lantern-chests". X attempts to protect his companion, but he too is wanted, and eventually the two are both knocked offline, much to the navicomp's delight. Medusa and Bruton drag the pair away, and Bruton recovers the navicomp...

The next morning, the pair come back online. A voice is disappointed; he expected so much more out of the Cybertronians, the so-called "scourge of the cosmos", and here he is with two broken and starved robots. And that is no way to present oneself to Lord Imperious Delirious, ruler of the Destructons!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I do not wish to fight you!"
"How precious. You think that matters!"

—Trans-Mutate and Protoform X

"A misnomer, an aberration, a curse. Our sparks burn brighter than most, rare pulsars among the billions of stars... and just as deadly."

—Protoform X on being a Point One Percenter.

"The aberration proposes a life bond. This unit is programmed to perform the ceremony in case of emergency."
"Silence, box, or I shall see if simulated screams are as delicious as natural ones!"

—The navicomp and Protoform X

Notes

Continuity notes

• Protoform X and Trans-Mutate first encountered each other at Ferromax Detention Center, in "Alone Together: Prologue".
• The slender, feminine figure stalking Protoform in part two and the large figure Trans-Mutate saw in part three are revealed to be Medusa and Bruton, respectively.

Transformers references

• Point One Percenters originate from IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye comic, a super-powerful spark-type that made Transformers who had it able to do feats normal Cybertronians couldn't, like survive processes that made them near indestructible as with Protoform X. The spark is typically presented as green, as Protoform X 's profile noted, hinting at his true power.
• The Destructons were created for Blackthorne Publishing's Transformers in 3-D issue #3, a story which was never completed. They appear here for the first time in color.